FLORIDA: Luxuries never seen before….

It’s day three in St Augustine, and as TravelMole editor Bev Fearis delves deeper into the history of the city, she learns about a third man who played a major part in its development.

Spanish explorers Ponce de Leon and Pedro Menendez de Aviles might be responsible for discovering what is now the State of Florida, but it was another man – Henry Flagler – who can be thanked for making it a major tourist destination. Along with John D Rockerfeller, Flagler was the co-founder of Standard Oil Company and in winter 1883 he visited St Augustine and realised its potential as a tourist destination.

Forwarding-thinking Flagler decided to spend some of his massive wealth on building a luxury hotel that would bring the rich from the Northeast who wanted to escape the winter cold. He also owned the rail road, which of course would greatly benefit from this annual influx of well-heeled travellers. His idea would lay the groundwork for the tourism industry in the state of Florida.

He built a hotel with luxuries never before seen, with opulent stain glass windows, gilded domes and fine works of art. He then built a second hotel, the Alcazar (opposite) and introduced to Florida leisure activities like a vast Turkish bath, a large indoor pool, golf, tennis and the relatively new sport of baseball.

The Hotel Ponce de Leon is now the Flagler College, a rather posh campus for trainee teachers. Its suites are now dorms for the students and its grand dining room is now a canteen. I bet the students don’t fully appreciate their historic surroundings.

The ‘hotel’ celebrates its 125^th anniversary this year and we happened to be in town for the opening event that kicked off the celebrations. A local reenactor, who apparently always plays Flagler, arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of locals (this town is full of history buffs). Along with the city mayor and other dignitaries, Flagler gave a speech, and then the doors were opened. Inside, it was truly stunning.

Across the road, the Alcazar is now the Lightner Museum, named after the publisher Otto C Lightner who bought it for his collection of Victoriana. The elegant rooms now exhibit everything from cut glass and china to old buttons and toys. It’s worth a quick tour just to see the chandeliers.

We had lunch at Harry’s on the Bayfront, a firm favourite among locals and tourists with a buzzy atmosphere and a big menu. Poor Freddie was a bit bored of museums, so Warren took him to the park (there’s a great one a two-minute walk from the St George Inn) while I did a quick circuit of St Augustine’s other historic attractions.

At the Oldest Wooden School House I watched a cute little scene unfold in the school house (thanks to talking and moving life-sized models) and rang the school bell. There wasn’t much else to see, to be honest, but it was only $5.

At the Oldest House, a young guide talked us through the history of the families who had lived there and showed me how the rooms would have looked. The benefit of having a history this recent is that written records exist that provide fascinating details of each inhabitant’s personal lives.

Our guide told us about one woman inhabitant who was a midwife, but also somehow managed to run a grocery store and a pub from the house. Not only that, but she survived three husbands, one of them 25 years her younger. Hats off to her.

Click here for Visit Florida

Click here for Florida’s Historic Coast